(above) Happy Chickens on Free Range Chicken Farm

Weight Loss Essential: Protein

Protein comes from the Greek term meaning “of prime importance”, which should tell you something about the importance of this class of food.

We need protein to build the important structures of the body like muscles, bones, enzymes and a whole host of vital body chemicals, but protein should be center stage in the diet of anyone who wants to lose weight. There’s a reason- actually several reasons- people lose weight fairly quickly on high protein diets.

1.    Protein “stimulates” metabolism. (In one study, the metabolism of healthy young women was increased by 100 percent after eating a high protein meal).

2.     Protein is satiating. That means you feel full after you eat it (can you say the same for Corn Flakes?).

3.    Protein has a relatively small effect on blood sugar. By stabilizing blood sugar, you get less of a spike of the “fat storage” hormone insulin, and weight becomes easier to control.

Protein at every meal is a cornerstone of the best weight loss plans. Protein at breakfast is the secret weapon of nearly everyone who has successfully lost body fat and kept it off. People eating a high protein breakfast tend to experience far less food cravings, have more energy, and have less of a tendency to overeat at lunch.

The problem with eating higher protein diets is that much of the protein in the American diet comes from inferior sources, which can lead to a lot of health problems. For example, factory farmed cows and chickens are loaded with steroids, hormones and antibiotics. Farmed salmon is loaded with PCBs. The answer is not to eat less protein, but to be very particular about where you get it.

Sometimes people who follow high protein diets forget about eating vegetables. Big mistake. High quality protein from healthy sources (free-range chickens, grass fed beef, wild salmon, omega-3 eggs) combined with plenty of vegetables for fiber and other phyto-nutrients, plus good fats from fish, flax, olive oil and the like, is the perfect prescription for both weight loss and good health.

Protein, fat and fiber from vegetables. It’s my secret recipe for success. How much protein? That depends. Experiment to find what works best for you.

A great rule of thumb is to start with the 1/3 rule: Take your plate and divide it into thirds. Cover one third with the highest quality protein you can get, and fill the rest of your plate with vegetables and some good fat (even a little butter won’t hurt). Keep your portions relatively small, and you’ll be well on the way to finding the weight loss formula that works for you. And you’ll be on the way to great health in the bargain.

~Jonny Bowden www.jonnybowden.com

Is the Weather Controlling You?

For those of you in colder climates, you know the feeling: lethargy, the need to sleep more and of course, the desire to eat anything in sight! Even in warmer climates, shorter days and less sunlight can have profound effects on our behavior.

Luckily there are some small steps you can take to address those feelings that threaten to add on pounds.

1. Plan a weekend trip.

Getting away from the same ol’ same ol’ – especially during the winter months – can seriously boost your mood. Unless you’re on foot or riding a bike (two means I don’t recommend when you’re traveling far enough for the trip to be considered a “weekend” one), though, traveling may not seem like the most environmentally friendly thing to do; however, you can green it up by taking public transportation or inviting a few friends and carpooling (bonus points for scoring or renting a hybrid), booking a room at an eco-friendly hotel, consuming locally, and conserving water and energy the same way you would at home.

2. Occupy yourself at home.

On those particularly miserable snow days, turn off the television and find something creative or constructive to get into. Maybe it’s time to get a head start on planning your garden. Invite friends and family over for a game night (of the card and board variety – less electricity!), or perfect a vegan dish and wow them with your animal-friendly prowess.

3. Join a club, take a class, or organize an event.

Many areas have community recreation centers or parks and recreation departments that maintain various special interest programs, classes, organizations, and events that don’t require exposure to below-zero temperatures. Ask around and find out if you’re interested in any of them, or inquire about organizing one that doesn’t exist. Need ideas? How about an auction or indoor yard sale to raise money for your local animal shelter? Not only will it help the shelter with funds, but it will also help recycle other people’s unwanted items. Happy puppies and less trash is a win/win in my book.

4. Volunteer your time and services.

Getting active in a cause you believe in – and one that helps the environment – can take your mind off the lack of sunlight, warmth, and your boredom. Plus, it makes you feel pretty darn good. If your area doesn’t offer any such volunteer opportunities, get some ideas about starting one from VolunteerMatch.org. Be sure to also check out the site’s listings for disaster preparedness and relief volunteering.

5. Give yourself something to look forward to.

Depending on the weather and your ability to get around when it’s especially cold and snowy outside, any one of the above may be a thing to look forward to. However, you can still consider making plans for a far-off date of entertainment and environmental excellence. Check out US News and World Report’s “How Green Is Your Vacation?”, an interactive quiz that tests just what it suggests, to see how green your vacation is and find tips for making it even more eco-friendly.

6. Do a little dance.

Or make a little love. Yes, getting down – whether it’s dancing, exercising, or loving – does a brain good. Physical activity that really gets your blood pumping not only helps you feel better physically, but it also helps curb symptoms of anxiety and depression, relieve stress, boost self esteem, and sleep better. And let’s face it: Exercise and sex use up little – if any – nonrenewable resources.

For more ideas to beat depression this season, check out Therese J. Borchard’s 12 Winter Depression Busters.

Soure: World Psychology

Dish with Trish

As everyone knows, the U.S. government is attempting to change the landscape of healthcare in America. This is a monumental effort and is inciting much debate and controversy. While debate is always a healthy sign of our democracy, I have observed that it is also sometimes a sign of fear.

All humans fear change. Even when something is broken, we don’t want to let it go for fear that it won’t be replaced with something better.  I see this in my life all the time. I drag my feet on making a change because I’m comfortable with the familiar…no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Sure, change brings challenging feelings and adjustments but over time, I’m always grateful that I moved on from a situation that wasn’t serving me. I’m glad Congress is hashing it out and I hope that all voices and sides are heard and considered.

But in the end, I pray that we don’t let the binding effects of fear keep us from charting a new course and allowing for a new era in health care to be born. Change is scary, but progress is exciting!

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better. - King Whitney Jr.

You are what you eat. It’s been said for eons but now, there is direct proof, according to this BBC News article:

Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests.

What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.

Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported.

The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression.

The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars - Dr Andrew McCulloch, Mental Health Foundation

They split the participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products.

After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets.

Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods.

By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods.

Lesson learned? Consider your diet the next time you’re feeling down. A few smart changes could literally change your mind!

Not too long ago, I had a persistent rash on my face and was prescribed an antibiotic for a month. Even though I took a priobiotic, I ended up getting a systemic Candida infection anyway.

That means that for the entire month, my abdomen was bloated and I felt like I’m wearing a tire around my belly - not good for someone with body image issues! I felt fat and looked like I was  4 months pregnant! Ugh.

And the cure was worse than the symptoms! I had to swear off all sugar, carbohydrates and dairy. Since my diet wasn’t laden with these things in the first place, you’d think that wouldn’t be a big deal…but take away my fruit (fructose) and sheep’s milk cheese (lactose) - again, not good!

And the cravings? All of a sudden all I wanted to eat was cake and ice cream!

And the whole thing could have been avoided if I had taken more probiotics with the antibiotics. Please - if you have to take an antibiotic, take lots of probiotic supplements!

Take a look at the chart below, which demonstrates very clearly the many ways probiotics could be helping your health now.

Sending you much love,

Tricia

First Image Source: Central Nebraska Medical Center

Second Image Source: HBC Protocols

Do you still think you’re doing your body a favor by drinking that Diet Coke or using Nutrasweet to sweeten your tea in the morning? Think again.

According to The Douglass Report:

If the Obama administration really wants to improve the nation’s health, there’s one thing it can do right now, without waiting for Congress to act on ObamaCare.

Ban the artificial sweetener aspartame.

Doctors and scientists are renewing the call to push this rat poison out of the country, hoping that maybe - just maybe -  some of the new blood in town hasn’t been bought and paid for by the big food manufacturers.

The truth about aspartame is anything but sweet. Over the years, this dangerous toxin has been linked to seizures, coma, cancer, headaches, blindness, tinnitus, memory loss, and so much more - up to and including death.

The Food and Drug Administration gets more complaints about aspartame than any other food additive - yet it remains on the market, the world’s most effective legal poison.

Today, this junk is everywhere — and I mean everywhere. Europe’s top aspartame manufacturer had to quit the business because a massive oversupply was making it too hard to turn a profit. That’s like a dope dealer looking for honest work because smack had become too cheap.

The intrigue behind its approval alone is like a conspiracy theorist’s dream come true.

Immediately after President Reagan took office in 1981, G.D. Searle applied for approval of its artificial sweetener, aspartame. After years of unwavering rejection, they got the green light.

The head of this company just happened to be a member of the new White House inner circle: Donald Rumsfeld. His friend, Arthur Hull Hayes, got the plum job as head of the FDA. One of his first acts was to convene a panel to look into aspartame — and when the panel was ready to rule against it, he overruled them and approved it anyway.

While Rummy continued to wreak havoc on the nation for decades, Hayes left the FDA and joined a public relations firm — not just any old P.R. firm, but the one that had been handling business for… G.D. Searle, the maker of aspartame!

I couldn’t make this up if I tried — but don’t take my word for it. Look it up for yourself, then decide if all that was just coincidence, or the world’s biggest shell game.

You know how those games work-  everyone loses, except the guy working those shells. ”

~ William Campbell Douglass, MD

Aspartame has a long, nefarious history. The next time you reach for an alternative sweetener, think agave nectar instead. Or work on that constant craving for something sweet by getting to the heart of the matter.

Did you know that:

• Taking calcium-containing antacids (such as TUMS) neutralizes stomach acid, thereby making the calcium in them unabsorbable?

• Sucralose (Splenda) was actually first created as a pesticide (read: an agent to kill living rodents and insects) and was adapted as a “sweetener” after one of the research chemists accidentally tasted it?

• In 2001, the average American consumed:

• • 45 large bags of potato chips (78%)*
  • 120 orders of French fries (130%)*
  • 190 candy bars (80%)*
  • 120 pastries or desserts (95%)*
  • 150 slices of pizza (143%)*

*Percentage shows increase since 1981

• New studies on humans have shown that pomegranate fruit and juice can actually reverse atherosclerosis, decrease blood pressure and protect against prostate cancer?

• Birth control pills are one of the primary causes of yeast infections and candidiasis (due to the higher levels of estrogen, which promotes the growth of yeast)?

• Even though companies are now required by law to list the amount of trans fat (hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils) on the labels of their products, there is a loophole that allows them to state that an item has 0 grams of trans fat if the per-serving amount is less than .5 gram? In other words, if the serving size is 3 crackers, and you ate 9, you could potentially be getting 1.5 grams of trans fat, when you thought you were getting none!)

• Taking Omega-3 essential fatty acids and eliminating processed foods and foods containing trans-fats from a child’s diet is more effective at treating ADHD than the prescription drug Ritalin?

The article below is a good reminder that how we eat directly affects how we feel! Yay for olive oil, fish and fresh salads! Yay for being happy and healthy! You see, when you take time to take care of yourself  by purchasing and preparing fresh, organic foods, the positive action makes you feel good about yourself; that good feeling in turn makes you feel like doing good things for yourself. Not only that, but when you feed your body with the best fuel, you are more likely to be sated (and less hungry!). Try it… it works!!

(PS: This diet doesn’t entirely work for me, personally, but it’s an improvement for most American diets. Everyone has to find what works best for their body type, blood type, energy levels, etc.)

A Great Plan for Healthy Eating

LONDON (Reuters) – People who follow a Mediterranean-style diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and fish are less likely to become depressed, scientists said on Monday, but the reasons are unclear.

Spanish researchers studied 11,000 people and found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a more than 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression than those whose diet had few of the crucial Mediterranean elements.

“The specific mechanisms by which a better adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern could help to prevent the occurrence of depression are not well known,” said Almudena Sanchez-Villegas and colleagues at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Navarra, Spain.

But the researchers suggested that elements of the diet may improve blood vessel function, fight inflammation and repair oxygen-related cell damage — all of which could reduce the chances of developing depression.

The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal, adds to an existing body of evidence showing the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet, including reduced risks of health disease, diabetes, asthma and cancer.

The study used data from Spanish people who reported their dietary intake on a food frequency questionnaire.

The researchers worked out how close their eating habits were to the Mediterranean diet based on nine components: A high ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids; moderate intake of alcohol and dairy foods; low intake of meat; and high intake of legumes, fruit and nuts, cereals, vegetables and fish.

“Individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a greater than 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression than whose who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland)

A great movie to see

I went to see “The Boys are Back” last night. What a treat it was! I knew I was going to love it…Clive Owen was in it! He’s one of the best and most handsome actors out there today - at least in my book. And he didn’t disappoint on either front! He played a harried father whose wife had just died of cancer, leaving him with a young son to raise and an older son from a previous marriage to reconnect with.

The movie was shot on the south coast of Australia, and the scenery was beautiful. The acting was impeccable. The young boys were spot-on and expressed such an array of raw emotions. That is what was so enjoyable about this film for me. It was a story about real emotions, real struggles to manage and express those emotions, and ultimately about the enduring strength of love to weather the panoplies of emotions and often messy fallout from them.

Not that everyone in the film was adept at “dealing with their feelings”. Because practically nobody was. There were undercurrents of feelings that came out as sarcasm, passive-aggressive quips and snipes, criticisms and loaded questions. There was alcohol abuse as an attempt to deny the strong feelings from death and loss, and there were rages that were suffocated with chips and goodies.

But that’s real, isn’t it? The movie showed how each character came to terms, to one degree or another, with their feelings and at times came to express them in more honest and tender ways.

As an “Emotional Eating Expert“, and former out-of-control emotional eater, I know what it is like to bury my emotions (usually with food) and never be straight forward about how I feel. And I know the destructiveness of such a lifestyle. Today, I know that maintaining a healthy, thin body comes from expressing my emotions in a responsible way, through writing, talking with trusted friends, and prayer.

The key is to get the feelings out…and to not judge them; to not think that some feelings are ok to feel and have and others are not. All feelings are ok. They aren’t good or bad, they just are. What we do with them is what makes the outcome of those feelings good or bad.

Clive Owen’s role came to terms with his new life and embraced it. He grew from his experiences and life choices and ultimately allowed love to prevail in his home and his heart. That choice to love impacted all around him and the film portrayed a family that experienced healing in the midst of tragedy and change. A great lesson for all of us!